Sedation Dentistry

Sedation Dentistry Puyallup, WA

If you’re anxious… Willow Smiles Dentistry can help!

For most patients, any dental work more extensive than a regular cleaning is anticipated to be an uncomfortable experience. But for those who suffer from dental phobias, the prospect can be terrifying.

At Willow Smiles Dentistry we are carefully trained and fully equipped to be your Puyallup sedation dentist. Using sedation, or sleep dentistry, has many advantages. As well as allowing Dr. Zorawar Singh and Dr. Dilpreet Singh to work around dental phobias, sedation also allows them to complete much more extensive procedures that would otherwise be too stressful for patients to undergo in a single visit. At our Puyallup office, we often run into this situation with working parents who simply don’t have the time for multiple appointments. They would much rather get everything done at once while they gently doze.

By taking a small sedative in the form of a pill prior to your procedure, you will be able to rest and relax in the dental chair. Many patients are able to sleep soundly, and they awake feeling refreshed and remembering very little about the visit. This method has been used at our office many times and allows patients to receive world-class dental care without any apprehension.

The search for a substance that would let a patient slip into merciful oblivion during surgery has been one of mankind’s goals for centuries. In North America, we can thank a dentist, Horace Wells of Connecticut, for the development of nitrous oxide as a form of dental anesthesia.

During the early 1840s, Dr. Horace Wells was looking for ways to make his patients more comfortable during procedures. While watching a demonstration of a popular intoxicant, a drug called “laughing gas,” Dr. Wells saw the possibility of helping his patients. The next day, he had one of his own teeth pulled while he inhaled this new mixture. The operation was a success, and Wells began using “laughing gas” in his practice.

When we elect to use nitrous oxide or “laughing gas” (an odorless gas administered through a mask), it produces a form of conscious relaxation. Although this method is not used in place of a local anesthetic injection, it does raise the threshold of pain, making dental procedures more relaxed and comfortable.

Modern dentistry has a lot to offer patients in order to assure a virtually painless treatment session, and that’s how we would like you to feel when you visit our office.

Dental fears are manageable and preventable.

If you’re extremely fearful, we can offer temporary sedation via “laughing gas” (nitrous oxide), during your appointment. It’s one of the safest ways available to keep you serene in the chair. Best of all, you’re awake—normal—once the gas is shut off. You can even drive yourself home from the appointment!